[Silhouette]

Your basic conclusion -- apps as standalone products paid for up-front are dead -- doesn't seem too surprising if we consider that apps have trained people from day one to think software costs almost nothing. If you're selling anything with substantial development costs to a market that behaves as if $2 is a lot of money for something on their phone, the only commercially viable options left are to attract a high volume of customers making lots of tiny payments over time or not to expect your app to be a significant source of direct revenue in the first place.